Clover-harvester



(ModeL) J. D. OTIS.

CLOVER HARVESTER.

Patented De0.'18, 1883.

Units STATES Tartar Fries.

JOHN D. OTIS, OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS.

CLOVER-HARVESTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 290,599, dated December 18, 1883.

Application filed February 26, 1888. (Modem To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN D. OTIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Peoria, in the county of Peoria, State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Machine for Gathering Glover-Seed, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to improvements in that class of clover-heading machines in which is used a revolving cylinder carrying knives designed to operate in connection with a stationary knife lying under the revolving knives and parallel therewith, and having means for raising and lowering the front end of the machine, when desired, during the operation.

The invention consists in the construction and novel arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a top or plan view with parts broken away; and Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the drive-wheel, the rock-shaft, side bar, and operating-leve1's.

Referring to the drawings by letter, A, B, and 0 indicate, respectively, the side, floor, and rear wall of the box or frame of the machine.

P represents a rock-shaft, which is cranked at opposite ends and secured beneath to the box or frame of the machine, near its forward end, by means of j ournal-bearings, in which the said rock-shaft is allowed to rock freely. The stationary cutter J is secured transversely to the forward end of the frame or box, and its cutting-edge lies close to the base of the teeth or fingers K. These teeth or fingers may be of the ordinary construction and secured by their downwardly and rearwardly extending portion to the under side of the floor of the frame. The bolts which connect the rigid cutter also connect the finger-bar to the box or frame.

J ournaled above the cutter-bar and fingerbar in the side walls of the frame is a transverse shaft, G, to which are madefast at suit-' lockingscrews, by means of which the said brackets and knives may be easily removed from the shaft in case of breakage or injury to either of them. This shaft G projects through the side walls of the frame in which it is journaled a sufficient distance to receive the forward perforated ends of the side bars or plates, N, which plates are prevented from coming off said shaft by the employment of nuts or other suitable fastening devices. The side bars are provided with spindles or stubaxles to which the drive-wheels D, are secured in the ordinary manner.

0 represents a bell-crank lever, which is pivoted to the outer left side of the frame at or near the lower end of its vertical portion, and is pivotally connected to the rear end of the plate N by means of the arm or link M. The 1 rear outer face of one of the side walls of the box or frame is provided with a perforated segmental plate, \V, which is designed to receive the stud of the spring-dog O of the lever O, to secure said lever'and the forward end of the machine in place when it has been raised or lowered. The drive-wheel at the lever side of the frame is provided with a gearwheel, E, made fast to the spokes, which gearwheel meshes with an intermediate gear-wheel E, journaled on a bearing on the said side plate, N, in advance of the former,and which communicates motion to a smaller gear-wheel or pinion made fast to one end of the cuttershaft G, whereby a rotary motion is imparted to the cutters during the forward motion of the machine. The rock-shaft P is connected from its arms 1? to the side plates, N, by means of straps or bars R, and bolts, rivets, or other suitable devices for forming pivotal connections. The floor of the box or frame is rearwardly extended, as shown at XV, and carries aseat-beam, V, upon which is a suitably-arranged seat, V, for the driver.

U represents a segmental plate secured to the upper edge of the rear vertical wall, 0. This plate extends rearwardly in the direction of the drivers seat, and is provided with a vertical perforation, through which extends a rod, T. This rod is bifurcated at its lower end to form journal-bearings for the guidewheel T, and has made fast to its upper end a lever, S. This lever has a perforation to register with perforations in the segmental plate beneath, and an upper spring-section carrying a stud, which passes down through the perforation in the main section and en gages one of the perforations in the plate U. The object of this lever is to guide the machine in its movement over a field, while the lever O is for the purpose of raising and low ering the forward end of the frame carrying the cutting apparatus for the various heights of the clover to be cut.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a machine for gathering clover-seed, the combination with the revolving cutters and their transverse shaft G, j onrnaled in the 

